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Irrawaddy dolphin4/5/2023 It’s an area that, like most of Cambodia, has experienced intense fishing pressure for decades. The Mekong population, believed to be the largest of the three, occurs here in northern Cambodia. ![]() Photograph by Brian Skerry, Nat Geo Image Collection Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins swim off Jeju Island, South Korea. ( Read about how “electro-fishing” in Myanmar puts river dolphins at risk.) But three freshwater subpopulations have been established in three rivers, including the Mahakam River in Indonesia, the Ayeyarwady (or Irrawaddy) River in Myanmar, and the Mekong, which originates in the Tibetan highlands and runs through six Asian countries before emptying into the South China Sea. The Irrawaddy dolphins, which, with their bulging foreheads resemble small beluga whales, live in brackish water near coasts, river mouths, and in estuaries in southern Asia. ![]() In 2007, the Yangtze River dolphin, or bajji, became the first mammal to go extinct in more than 50 years and the first cetacean species ever driven to extinction by human activity, according to a Royal Society study. Less famous than their ocean-dwelling cousins, river dolphins are among the most endangered creatures on Earth. “As threats to their survival persist, we need to redouble our efforts to protect the dolphins both for their future and that of the river and communities that live alongside it,” he says. ( Read why Southeast Asia may be building too many dams too fast.)īut, says Mark Drew, a WWF program director in Cambodia, which has spearheaded the dolphin campaign, “We may have been able to bend the curve.” The WWF’s country director Teak Seng calls it “fabulous news,” but adds that there is no time for complacency. High mortality among young dolphins also continues to mystify scientists. A wide array of threats persists, most notably the planned construction of a new 2,600-megawatt dam in Sambor, Cambodia, which would eat into core dolphin habitat. The dolphin population remains well below what is considered safe to ensure its future survival. Eng Chea San, the director general of the Cambodian Fisheries Administration, says there may be a dozen or more previously unidentified dolphins living in the river. This year, three more have already been found. Researchers identified nine newborn calves. A new survey found 92 dolphins in the Mekong River, the highest number in more than 20 years. Yet it takes time to crack down on illegal activity, and in 2015, a population census showed only 80 individuals remaining. Around this time, the Cambodian government also began promoting the dolphins as a flagship species and tourist attraction. Some conservation measures were finally implemented in the mid-2000s when the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) partnered with the Cambodian government to support law enforcement efforts combating unsustainable fishing practices, which include using poisons and dynamite. Indiscriminate net fishing, in which the dolphins sometimes end up as bycatch, took a further toll, and by the turn of the millennium, there were maybe fewer than 100 left. During the violent reign of the Khmer Rouge and the years of war that followed, the dolphins were hunted for food. Once believed to have numbered in the thousands, the population began to plummet in the 1970s. Yet the most remarkable feat these dolphins have pulled off may be that they have not disappeared.įor decades, Cambodia’s Mekong River population of Irawaddy dolphins has verged on extinction. The clicking of tourist cameras following each glimpse inevitably comes too late. They may briefly pop up in one place only to reappear the next time in a random spot a few hundred feet away. While marine dolphins often jump fully out of the water while swimming on a continuous path, the snub-nosed-and indisputably adorable-Irrawaddy dolphins, which grow to be up to eight feet long, will only partially breach the surface before diving back below. ![]() Not that these dolphins are particularly willing photo subjects, as the tourists on this day are finding out. A blood-orange sun casts a warm glow across the milky brown water, making it the ideal time to photograph the rare Irrawaddy river dolphins that congregate in deep, swirling pools. SAMBOR, CAMBODIAIt’s 5:30 p.m., and several tourist boats linger in the middle of the Mekong River.
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